Ways of the World Chapter 3 Focus Terms

Vocabulary flashcards covering the focus terms for Chapter 3: The Results of Long-Distance Commerce from Ways of the World (Fourth Edition) by Robert W. Strayer and Eric W. Nelson.

The Silk Roads

Land-based trade routes that linked pastoral and agricultural peoples as well as major civilizations across the Eurasian continent.

Silk

A luxury fabric produced in China that became a major commodity and symbol of high status along Eurasian trade routes.

New Forms of Credit and Exchange

Financial innovations such as paper money, bills of exchange, and banking houses that facilitated long-distance trade across Eurasia.

Security for Merchants and Travelers

Protection provided by large, powerful imperial states, such as the Mongol Empire, which allowed commerce and travel to flourish along trade routes.

Conduit of Culture

The role of trade routes like the Silk Roads in spreading religions, languages, technologies, and cultural practices across vast geographic areas.

Pure Land School

A popular branch of Mahayana Buddhism in China that emphasized salvation by faith in the Amitabha Buddha.

Buddhism's Impact in China

The transformation of Chinese religious and cultural life through the adoption, adaptation, and eventual integration of Buddhist beliefs alongside Confucianism and Daoism.

Sea Roads

Transoceanic trade routes through the Indian Ocean and South China Sea that connected maritime commerce across Asia, East Africa, and the Mediterranean.

Monsoons

Alternating wind currents in the Indian Ocean that blew predictably northeastward in summer and southwestward in winter, enabling maritime trade.

Technological Innovations

Maritime advancements such as the magnetic compass, astrolabe, larger ship designs, and new sails that enhanced Indian Ocean commerce.

Srivijaya

A Malay kingdom in Southeast Asia that grew powerful and wealthy by controlling the crucial bottleneck of maritime trade in the Strait of Malacca.

Angkor Wat

A massive Hindu-turned-Buddhist temple complex constructed in the Khmer Kingdom of Southeast Asia, illustrating the spread of Indian cultural influence.

Malacca

A strategic port city-state located on the Strait of Malacca that became a major center of Islamic trade and commerce in Southeast Asia.

Swahili Civilization

An East African urban society of commercial city-states that engaged heavily in Indian Ocean trade and adopted Islam.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful interior Southern African state constructed of stone, whose wealth was closely connected to trade in gold and cattle.

The Banana

An agricultural crop originating in Southeast Asia that was introduced to Africa, boosting population and agricultural productivity across the continent.

Zheng He's Expeditions

A series of massive maritime voyages sponsored by the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century to establish Chinese prestige and tributary relationships across the Indian Ocean.

Sand Roads

Trans-Saharan trade routes that connected West Africa with the Mediterranean world and Northern Africa.

Arabian Camel

A pack animal that made trans-Saharan travel possible due to its ability to go for days without water while carrying heavy loads.

West African Civilization

A series of urban, monarchical states including Ghana, Mali, and Songhay that developed along trans-Saharan trade routes.

Hausa City-States

A network of independent, urbanized states in West Africa that prospered through trade, agriculture, and manufacturing.

Trans-Saharan Slave Trade

The commerce in enslaved people captured in West Africa and transported across the Sahara Desert to North Africa and beyond.

Islam in West Africa

The adoption of Islamic faith, culture, and literacy by West African elites and urban centers, introduced largely through trans-Saharan trade.

Islamic Green Revolution

The diffusion of new crops, agricultural techniques, and irrigation technology across the Islamic world, resulting in increased food production and urban growth.

The Circulation of Ideas

The widespread exchange and synthesis of scientific, mathematical, medical, and philosophical knowledge throughout the Islamic world.

The Limits of Interaction

The geographical, environmental, and technological obstacles that hindered dense long-distance trade networks in the Americas compared to Eurasia.

The American Web

A network of trade and cultural exchange operating across different regions of the Americas, though less unified than Eurasian trade routes.

Cahokia

A dominant chiefdom and major urban settlement of the Mississippian culture near modern-day St. Louis, known for its large earthen mounds.

The Chaco Phenomenon

A major process of settlement and organizational linkage among ancestral Puebloan peoples in modern New Mexico, marked by large stone pueblos and roads.

Pochteca

Professional Aztec merchants who undertook long-distance trade expeditions and acted as intelligence agents for the empire.